Marriott International plans to launch a program for small and midsize enterprises, Marriott SVP of global sales Tammy Routh said last week during a BTN Group webinar on transient lodging trends for 2024
While Routh did not provide a details of or a timeline for Marriott's impending program, she said the hotel company is eager "to get this launched."
The forthcoming SME program from Marriott will make the hotel company "very easy to do business with," according to Routh, adding that SMEs may not find the company easy to do business with now.
For SME companies, "this is probably the best time ever for you," Routh said, because travel suppliers, including hotels, have "woken up to how big this space is and the need to have a program when it comes to SMEs."
In the meantime, Routh suggested small and midsize travel buyers utilize hotels at the local level by working with them directly in negotiating their top-tier markets. Routh also recommended buyers lean into loyalty programs as bridge until that SME program is available.
"I would really ride the Bonvoy [loyalty] program for all your secondary markets, because if someone is a Bonvoy member, they're going to get a discount," she said. She also added that some "worthy competitors have SME programs you can work with."
Larger Market Clients Get Different Advice
Routh's suggestions that SME buyers should go directly to the property level to negotiate or lean on loyalty programs do not extend to larger customers that have chain-level representation.
For those clients, she said there is "no advantage to going to properties directly," even if they think they get a better rate. According to Routh, the advantages of going through global sales representatives is more valuable because "they will do all the work for you, they're going tell your story." She added that global sales reps are often more experienced with corporate deals than their local counterparts, and they guarantee rates will be loaded and audited.
She claimed, "Nobody can touch those rates once they're agreed to and audited, not even a property," she said. So, “leverage the experts that are your advocates," she said.
Marriott High-Fives a Hybrid Approach
Looking ahead, larger-market buyers and travel managers can expect to see a more hybrid mix of rates from Marriott, Routh said, as the hotel company "loves" the idea of hybrid pricing—a strategy that keys into fixed pricing in a corporate client’s highest-volume markets and shifts to dynamic in lower-volume locales. Some clients also have struck deals that allow them to default to market rates should those drop below the negotiated rate.
Marriott sees hybrid strategies as an opportunity to mitigate months of negotiations.
"What is the right way you could do dynamic [and] not spend all this time negotiating and both sides win? We have to come together as an industry to do that," Routh said. "We're not quite there saying fully dynamic, but hybrid, yes."